A second day of ideal conditions was exactly what Andrew Landry wanted to see at the CareerBuilder Challenge on Friday.

“Wind was down again, it's like a dome out here,” Landry said. “But I played really well, just drove the ball, hitting the ball really well and making some putts.”

For Landry, the result was a 7-under par 65 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and a two-day total of 16-under 128. That gave Landry, back on the PGA Tour this year after a season on the Web.com Tour last year, a one-shot lead over world No. 3 Jon Rahm midway through the $5.9 million event.

Rahm, the overnight leader of the event, fired a 67 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course after a 10-under 62 in the first round at La Quinta Country Club. The scoring might not have been as low Friday as it was on Thursday, but the conditions were just as ideal.

“It's tough to come back (after the 62) because I feel like I expected myself to go to the range and keep just flushing everything like I did yesterday," Rahm said, “Everything was just a little bit off. It was just one of those days. I actually had a much better start than I ever expected. I was hitting good shots, made a couple of good putts, but then again a couple of those bad swings cost me.”

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Jon Rahm tees off on the 1st hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Rahm’s round of seven birdies and two bogeys keeps him in a packed leaderboard that has Jason Kokrak at 14 under and three players, Zach Johnson, Michael Kim and Martin Piller, at 13 under entering day three of the event.

The second round also saw Palm Desert High School senior Charlie Reiter shoot another under-par round in his first PGA Tour start. Reiter reached 8-under par for the tournament with four birdies in his first eight holes, but a double bogey later in the round pushed him back to 138 for the event, tied for 67th. Only the top 70 players and ties after Saturday’s third round will advance to Sunday’s play.

For Landry, having the lead in the event is the biggest moment of his career on the PGA Tour. Landry played on tour in 2016, but 18 starts produced just one top-10 finish, and the 30-year-old graduate of the University of Arkansas was back on the Web.com Tour in 2017. In the 2017-18 season on the PGA Tour, Landry is making his seventh start, but already owns top-10 finishes at the Safeway Open and the RSM Classic.

Part of posting back-to-back low rounds in the desert this week is about Landry allowing himself to be aggressive, he said.

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Andrew Landry tees off on the 17th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

“To be honest with you, I used to have a comfort level whenever I got to about 6-under par in college. I would start freaking out a little bit and my coach would always make me go play the ladies tees and just try to get as low as we can possibly go, and it's helped out in the past,” Landry said. “There's not really a comfort level anymore, but it's fun to just get out there and go as low as you can and put on a show for the guys in the pro-am.”

Landry's 16-under total through two rounds is not quite the tournament record for lowest 36-hole score since the tournament went to four rounds. Patrick Reed stood at 18-under through two rounds in 2014.

Landry will have to keep that aggression going Saturday on the Stadium Course at PGA West, the toughest of the three courses in the rotation.

“It's going to be a tough day (Saturday). I think the wind's supposed to be up like 10 to 20 or something so, I know that golf course can get a little mean,” Landry said. “Especially those last three or four holes coming down the stretch. So we'll get off to a good start tomorrow and hopefully catch the wind down and play some good golf.”

Rahm will also rotate to the Stadium Course on Saturday. In fact, of the top six players on the leaderboard, only Piller will not play the Stadium Course on Saturday, with him rotating instead to La Quinta Country Club.

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Zach Johnson tees off on the 9th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Rahm started his round on the 10th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course and made four birdies and two bogeys in his first six holes. He seemed to steady himself after that with three birdies the rest of the day, but he still wasn’t pleased with the round completely.

“I had a couple of bad moments, not bad ones, sorry, a couple of kind of what you call boring golf,” Rahm said. “I wasn't hitting perfect shots, it was 20, 30 feet from the pin all the time. But then luckily the driver on 6 was the key. I flushed it, hit a great drive. I knew what I was doing wrong, and it was followed by four perfect holes where I could have had almost four birdies, but I had two of them, so it was a great finish.”

Rahm also believes he can have a better putting round than he did Friday, when he even three-putted for one bogey.

“It's golf. It happens. Any time you are hitting putts and it doesn't go in and it just brushes the hole it means you're hitting good putts,” he said. “It could have been a little bit both speed and line, but in my case I found myself trying to control a little too much and trying to be too perfectionist, too much of a perfectionist and once I freed myself a little bit I started hitting better putts.”

Andrew Landry relexes for a moment after teeing off on the 17th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018 Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun

Spectators watch a high-flying approach shot by one of the pros on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018 Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun

Charlie Reiter talks playing partner Maverick McNealy on the 18th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West during the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, January 19, 2018 Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun